New data from the 2011 Census reveals the most advantaged and disadvantaged areas in the Australian Capital Territory

New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today have provided a new perspective on the wealth of statistical information collected in the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.

The third release of 2011 Census data includes the release of Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), which ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.

For the purposes of SEIFA, the ABS broadly defines relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage in terms of people’s access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in society.

Director, Analytical Services Branch, Dr Phillip Gould, says that SEIFA can be used to compare the relative socio-economic characteristics of areas at a given point in time.

“It’s important to remember, that indexes are assigned to geographic areas, not to individuals.

“For example, it’s possible for a relatively advantaged person to reside in an area which may have a low score on some or all of the indexes. It’s also not uncommon to see a Local Government Area that has pockets of advantage and disadvantage,” Dr Gould added.

SEIFA can be used by government, business and communities for many purposes, such as to determine areas that require additional funding for improved services, to identify potential business opportunities or to research the relationship between health and education outcomes and the socio-economic conditions of an area.

For the first time, anyone can freely download files which allow them to display SEIFA data using Google Earth®, which makes interpretation easier than ever.

Data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing is now available on the ABS website. Our range of new, easy-to-use tools makes searching Census data quick and easy. Visit www.abs.gov.au/census

Key SEIFA data for Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are detailed below:

Australia

Peppermint Grove (WA) was recorded as Australia’s most advantaged Local Government Area (LGA), followed by Ku-ring-gai (NSW), Nedlands (WA), Cottesloe (WA) and Cambridge (WA).

Note: No LGA data is provided for the ACT as it is an unincorporated area.

The most advantaged Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) in the ACT was recorded as Forde. Forrest and O’Malley were recorded as the second and third most advantaged SA2s followed by Harrison and Chapman.

The ACT’s most disadvantaged SA2 was recorded as ACT – East, followed by Charnwood and Reid. Richardson was recorded as the fourth most disadvantaged SA2 followed by Holt.

Media note:

While SA2s can be referred to generally as areas, they should not be referred to as suburbs or LGAs. In urban areas SA2s generally reflect one or more gazetted suburbs. Large suburbs may be split into multiple SA2s.